Bike fit / correct riding position

what cervelo? i thought it hadn't arrived yet?

it's arrival is imminent. but knowing exactly what effective top tube i needed meant i didn't have to guess the size :-)

A lot of people don't need an excuse to ride bikes that don't fit them.

A lot of bikes are making excuses for the people that aren't fit to ride them.

A lot of bikes are making excursions with the people that aren't fit to ride them.

But this is really an excursus and we might want to get back on topic.

No excuses this time, least of all from ex-couriers.

The whole "standover height" thing is arse.

Carry on.

I thought it was more 'balls'.

The whole "standover height" thing is arse.

Carry on.

Very true. Especially with high BBs and steep seat tubes.

My BJ is 20" (C/T), my inseam with chunky bike shoes is 30". I can standover the bike with next to zero clearance (balls nestling).

Judging by the final set-up. A 20.5" with 0.5" less seat post and stem quill showing, and a 10-15mm shorter stem, may well have been perfect. Building a bike specifically to fit me, but not being able to standover it would, however, just be wrong IMO.

that's what compact geometry is for.

How about if you ride a bike that quite obviously doesn't fit you, but it's not uncomfortable? Is that ok, or are there demons of pain squirreling away inside you ready to break free at any inconvenient moment?

that's what compact geometry is for.

Tis true.

Just had my heart set on a steel track frame with horizontal top tube. I did some calculations for stem length (from 'Zinn and the art of road bike maintainance') and came up with something like 97mm. So my top tube + 100mm stem is probably more accurate than a shorter stem with a longer top tube. TBH I dont think I've ever ridden a bike with anything other than a 100mm stem so have no idea of the 'real world' difference.

I have 4.5" of seatpost showing and my quill stem is 2 - 2.5" up from max insertion. This sounds pretty good to me, its just that it looks alot on such a small frame.

All my other bikes (owned and in the pipeline) have sloping top tubes.

The only time I've experienced top tube slop (sic), is whilst caning it up and down hills on a fully loaded touring bike.

How about if you ride a bike that quite obviously doesn't fit you, but it's not uncomfortable? Is that ok, or are there demons of pain squirreling away inside you ready to break free at any inconvenient moment?

i guess you would have to ask a bike fitter that.
before i bought a road bike i rode mountainbikes, only after the fitting for my pista did i realise i was curving my lower back and compressing my spine in this position when climbing seated. i put the back pain down to what happens when you ride hardtail mountainbikes all day.
i have now changed the way i sit on the mtb to something similar to the road bike and pivot forward at the hips and keep my back staight, i don't have back problems anymore.
people seem content to ride around hunched shouldered in one position all day, i'm not qualified to say if it's doing them any damage or not.
i'm surprised people are prepared pay quite large sums for exotic frames and wheels when the bike doesn't fit them. if they went to a frame builder (or just a bike fitter) they would spend less and have something that fitted them, the price you pay for being cool i guess?

that's what compact geometry is for.

And MTB seatposts are for compact geometry.

On a frame with a horizontal top tube, it's unlikely you'll need a foot of seatpost showing.

As with so much in life, a fistfull is quite enough.

my only constant between my bikes is the relationship between horizontal pedals and fore/aft position of the saddle. if i change this it fucks my knees.

Yep, me too. Although I'm a little slack when it comes to tweaking this for different crank lengths (175 on my MTBs, 170 on my road bikes - whould be 172.5 but I got the cranks really cheap!).

I've now found that I tend to feel slightly more comfortable with a higher saddle height than Cyclefit originally recommended, so I think I might go back to get everything confirmed. Bike fit will change with changes in flexibility, etc, and I think I am now more flexible than when I was originally fitted.

people seem content to ride around hunched shouldered in one position all day, i'm not qualified to say if it's doing them any damage or not.

The hunched shouldered thing was highlighted during my cyclefit session. The issue that it caused for me was:

Tight hamstrings - relying too much on the hamstrings for power
Fitness plateau - Not using my core enough
Wasted energy

Not necessarily damaged (besides the chronically bad hamstrings) but the cycle fit did transform my riding - more power now, stronger legs and generally fitter core.

As a result I really enjoy riding a lot more. So it was worth it for me.

Not necessarily damaged (besides the chronically bad hamstrings) but the cycle fit did transform my riding - more power now, stronger legs and generally fitter core.

As a result I really enjoy riding a lot more. So it was worth it for me.

A-ha, now this kind of answers my question - from this I presume that though I may not be damaging myself by riding a too-large frame (no chance of hunched shoulders!) I may not be getting the most efficient ride.

I don't ride a frame that's too large because it's *cool *though, or for any other reason than because that's what circumstance landed me with. beggars can't be choosers!

Incidentally, my road bike, which is this right size for me, does give me pain, maybe through poor set-up. But that's my problem, and completely unrelated to my initial question.

it's arrival is imminent. but knowing exactly what effective top tube i needed meant i didn't have to guess the size :-)
You mean you bought a 2K road bike without getting properly fitted? :-)

it's costing me hardly anything apart from my patience waiting for everything to turn up :-)

Did you order an R or an S?

only a bottom of the range s1 (soloist team) for me

Still a nice frame. What groupset?

bit of a mixture. DT mon chasseral wheels, FSA K-force light carbon cranks (was going to be new dura-ace but had a better offer) dura-ace shifters, everything else ultegra, thomson stem, PRO traditional bend bars, some snazzy selle san marco white lorica bartape and my old toupe saddle that may be replaced with a white/ti special edition regal.

White seems to be a theme.. Lets hope the weather improves..

I heard about spoke breakages with those wheels, but they've probably sorted it out by now.

Don't just ride it round Richmond Park though, FFS.

i'm only going to ride it to richmond park cafe's and back in the summer sunshine.

Wheels are fine as they are newer version. my rear wheel has been built with the slightly thicker spokes.
i only weigh 65kilos so hopefully i will not be stressing them too much

Still not burnt off the Xmas excesses then?